Maybe your home would look better with a limewash instead of paint that has the tendency to peel over time. Look at the last photo and consider removing your shutters and painting the windows black to match your roof.

The first think I would do is remove the shutters it would immediately brighten up the exterior. Also a nice pale sage green door. IMO if you want to devalue your house paint the brick. Do the siding the same pale sage as the door. and then get to work on some landscaping bt starting with removing at least 1/2 or more of the shrubs at the front of the house and replace with nice different height flowering and evergree plants . Add a walkway from the steet to the front door allowing for some more landscaping plants I would also widen the stoop to allow for 2 large planters one on either side of the door laed with seasonal plants all flowering .

Attractive home.

Shrub tops trimmed to be just beneath the window would be less "dark" -- and trim vertically to keep the walk space above your steps clear..

No. Don't paint the brick.

Paint the white fascia dark -- black -- to match the roof and shingles.

If you don't like the light gray (which works), then paint all the siding either white or the lightest color in the brick if you don't like the gray.

Personal preference and you will get many different answers. Paint it IMO

I can see painting the brick and leaving the steps bare. What I can't see is an easy way to paint the brick but not all the way to the ground, the foundation that you mention.

Your brick is not ugly. I see more to dislike in the shutters and landscaping. I would remove the shutters from the double windows and paint the siding a darker, warmer gray.

If you do paint the brick be sure to use a proper product as mentioned above.

No limewashing. I wouldnt paint the brick, but, if you really decide to, buy the correct paint and paint it rather than limewash, which looks dirty and busy.

Limewash can be a solid color. It all depends on how much finish you wash off.

You have so many options, lots of good stuff to work with.

I personally don't care for the color and pattern of the brick.

That's the first question to ask yourself - is the brick pretty, do I want to keep it?

If the answer is no, then change it.

Never use regular paint on brick. Always use a mineral product like Romabio.

Not only can you control the application from a light wash to fully opaque, it comes in many colors.

Based on color measurements, Romabio's Avorio White is very, very similar to Benjamin Moore's White Dove.

The beauty of the brick is the lack of required maintenance. Paint it and you now make it one more thing that has to be maintained. I would not purchase a home with painted brick. It would be a walk away item for me.

When I look at your home I think the brick is absolutely fine. The landscaping is wrong for the house. It is a single story home that you have shrunk by covering the bottom third with heavy, dark bushes. No matter what color you paint it will still look like a large dark roof and heavy layer of dark bushes with a little bit of house in between. A lighter color will most likely make this more apparent, not less.

Before I would consider painting the brick I would remove the shutters, paint the front door, paint the siding in a color that is similar to the brick and redo the landscape.

My neighborhood has quite a few low ranch homes with lower, more interesting landscape. Take a virtual trip down the street and see if you get any ideas. https://www.google.com/maps/@40.3304432,-76.438551,3a,75y,131.2h,87.85t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1suJVYxj91NsxcUmMYzw0O7g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

As Jennifer Hogan suggest the landscaping could you some work. That in itself should update the look of your house. As others have said - unpainted brick is pretty much maintenance free but painting brick is very popular these days and it does update a house like little else does. Good luck!

The “never paint brick” posters are slowly fading away here, for good reason. I have said many times before, lots of nicely painted brick homes in my neighborhood.

Even if you paint the brick the house still will have issues with the hardscape and landscaping.

I think your money and time will be better spent on things like bigger planting beds, wider steps, a graceful stone landing, a curved walk and a few trees.

Those changes will make a bigger boost to your curb appeal than painted brick.

I like your brick. I think it is a good contrast to the siding. I would not paint it.

personally I don't like that brick color (esp the contrast) and would choose to paint if it were my home.

the brick portions of my house have been painted since 1955 and it's just fine. there are no signs of the underlying paint peeling or anything.

I'm usually with the "don't paint brick" group. However, I agree with Lori regarding the color and pattern of your brick...probably more the color. If it bothers YOU, consider the Romabio.

I think first, you may consider removing the shutters and creating a sidewalk from the steps to the driveway. Perhaps add a lovely rail for the steps and make some decisions about front landscaping changes then take it from there. I do like the mature landscaping in the back giving your house a nice backdrop.

I am on a work computer, so only have excel to play with the pics, but this gives you a rough idea of what removing the bushes and shutters would do.

Here it is with some other colors - just playing

Just wish I could add some landscaping.

The brick is the one thing on the house that gives it character, so I'm in the "NO PAINT" crowd. I agree that improving the landscaping, and removing the shutters, would change the curb appeal dramatically - go that route before painting the brick.

The “never paint brick” posters are slowly fading away here, for good reason.

I think mostly because of the advancement of product for changing the color of brick. Outdated beliefs about painted brick are being replaced with updated information about the correct products to use.

Not all brick is as maintenance free as many think it is.

But that's something you learn when you actually live in a brick house. I did. It had to be sealed and joints repointed on a not so regular schedule.

A mineral application isn't that far of a stretch from having to have it sealed and can help preserve mortar joints.

Current opinion is applying a mineral product can be as much about maintenance as it is about aesthetics.

Yes, if it's in the budget to do so. Your home is lovely, but if you paint the brick you will have a more cohesive appearance and I think most people would agree that is preferable.

It’s not the brick, it’s the roofline. Is it in the budget to do a portico and small front porch? Paint the front door and remove the mature shrubs.

I own a 50 year old brick home. I consider it damn near maintenance free, needing maintenance once every 100 years is reasonably maintenance free.

I specifically asked my inspector about sealing. He said it was a way to create unnecessary maintenance, something that was never needed and has to now be re-done every 2 years. He explained that there was no sealer until the last 20-30 years and the 150 year old brick homes in my city are still standing up to the rain and weather without any kind of sealer. Strongly advised against sealing.

As for repointing - the mortar on my home is still in excellent shape. The homes that I know of that needed repointing have been the 100+ year old homes and it is once and done for another 100 years, it is not something you do every few years.

If you’re not sure about limewashing the house, then start with the less expensive ideas. Remove the shutters and pull out the front landscaping. With your roofline, I would only plant low, dwarf shrubs and sweet flowers. Painting the door a bright, happy color will also help brighten the look of it. After living with those low priced changes, you can re-evaluate the house. That might give you a better idea of whether or not you need to change the brick.

it is not something you do every few years.

Neither is a mineral application - on average they last 20 years. Glad to hear your house has worked out so well for you. I'd personally never ask or consider an "inspector" a masonry expert but it's your house. So, whatever.

It looks fabulous!!!

It looks fantastic! Good paint color choice. Personally, I'm glad you kept the natural brick.

The generous curved walkway sets the stage. The yews that were cut will slowly recover and you can keep the low with yearly hand pruning.

wow, looks great!

Gorgeous! The landscaping is terrific.

Looks great!!!

LOVE the walk way. I am sooo glad you did not paint the brick! Frankly I found the example pictures a turn off and proof painting brick is a FAIL!!

Paint is a never-ending process. If you don't paint the brick, you'll never have to touch up or paint it again.

Good choices! I am glad you didn't paint your brick. I think it looks better not painted and I personally would not want the on-going maintenance. Your house looks fantastic!